Tesla’s humanoid robot project associated with Elon Musk is called Optimus.
Tesla unveiled the robot as Tesla Bot in 2021 and later branded the project Optimus. The company presented it as a general-purpose humanoid robot intended to perform repetitive, dangerous, or physically difficult tasks.
The project uses Tesla’s work in cameras, neural-network software, battery systems, and electric motors. Demonstrations have included walking, handling objects, and performing selected factory-related activities. The technology remains separate from Tesla’s consumer vehicles, even though both use elements of the company’s broader artificial-intelligence and manufacturing expertise.
Optimus is sometimes confused with Atlas, Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot, or Spot, Boston Dynamics’ quadruped robot. Pepper is another unrelated robot developed by SoftBank Robotics. Tesla’s name refers specifically to its own humanoid robotics program.